THE LIBERTARIAN ENTERPRISE
Number 304, January 30, 2005"How free are you...."

Looking out my back door

EDITORIAL MATTERS:

That photograph up there is "Looking out my back door" about 4:30 this
afternoon. It was snowing pretty hard for a while. But it quit after a bit,
leaving behind less than an inch I'd say. Pretty, but a bit nippy.

Big "Thank You!" to W., B.L.C., S.B., C.B., T.p.o.G., and
R.R. for your donations. And another big "Thank You!" to all of
you who bought books from Amazon.com and Laissez-Faire Books via
the links we provide. We're almost there for this month and the
next, if it wasn't for that pesky auto insurance bill. (I don't
even want to think about that property tax bill coming due in a
couple of months [shudder].) So for those of who who find
TLE worth reading, how about stepping up and donating a bit of
your surplus cash to help keep us going? TANSTAAFL! Read all
about how at:

Letters to the Editorfrom Jack Chleva, Michael, and Susan Wells:
 FULL STORY

Freedom Starts at Homeby Francis A Ney, Jr.
The second inaugural address by George "Dubya" Bush promised the world that
those who desire freedom would receive the full support of the United States.
Given the events of the previous four years I have to wonder if the man even
knows what "freedom" means, since he's done a bang-up job of suppressing it.
 FULL STORY

Disturbing Newsby Ron Beatty
This week has brought some very disturbing news items to my attention.
 FULL STORY

No Foreign Welfare for the Tsunami Survivorsby Todd Andrew Barnett
The recent catastrophic earthquake-induced tidal waves in Asia certainly serve to remind us that Mother Nature can be far more fataland far more destructivethan any other cataclysmic event in the history of our planet. It is a mere fact that it is far more destructive than, say, a tornado or a hurricane. It is also far worse and far chaotic than man-made disasters, such as bombings, war, or even gang-related shootings in inner cities. This is because nature can be our ally in one minute and then our enemy in another, whether or not we are cognizant of this simple truth. It ought to be stated that the places where humans intervene with nature the mostthat is, productive industrial societies laden with wealthy, flourishing marketsare the least prone to her wrath. Of course, the loopy radical leftist environments would, in a blazing instant, would love to convince us otherwise; however, there you see it. You can find it yourself. It's there for you to peruse and observe.
 FULL STORY

Taking Oaths and Stealing Freedomsby Lady Liberty
Over the past weeks, there's been much talk of the inauguration
ceremony and parties for the second term of President George W. Bush.
Some people think that far too much money is spent on such festivities
(it is, but the donations are private and what people choose to spend
their money on is their own business). Others worry that their First
Amendment right to express their opinion along the parade route is
being infringed (security is understandably very tight, and some groups
are disgrunted they're not getting the preferred seating they think
they ought to have, while others are upset at some of the things the
Secret Service is prohibiting within certain boundaries). And then we
have one man from California who thinks that some portions of the
inauguration are a violation of the separation of church and state.
 FULL STORY

Libertarians: Definedby Jonathan David Morris
In last week's column, I referred to myself as a
libertarian, which I defined as "nicepeoplespeak for a
'guy who doesn't like government.'" After that article
published, I got a letter from a guy named Mike.
Mike's worried that many of his friends are becoming
self-professed libertarians without really knowing
what libertarianism is. "It seems to me that they are
anti-establishment because they believe it is trendy,"
he says, "rather than because of some rational thought
process." With Mike's email in mind, I'd like to take
this chance to answer the age old question, once and
for all: What the heck's a libertarian? With any luck,
I'll end up providing some insight.
 FULL STORY

Supreme Court lets dogs go fishing... for drugsby Rex Curry
A new supreme court case states that cops can take dogs fishing. Dogs can go fishing for drugs in Illinois vs. Caballes. FULL STORY